The feeling of silky blades of grass caressing the space between her toes, a soft breeze lifting her ebony locks to join her crystal-grey eyed gaze at the crimson heavens, and the sweet everlasting scent of home...
Her tree stood tall on a hill to her left, proudly reaching its shadow over like a hand to claim her attention with the chill of it's icy touch. This, however, was the least of her worries for under the leaves stood the one that had haunted her dreams for so long.
A man, but not just any man, stood waiting with arms open wide and a glowing cocky smile that was soon blurred by the rapidly flowing liquid in her eyes.
"Doctor!" Mage screamed as her hand, too, reached across the open meadow into the darkened air. The icy shade bit at her fingers angrily, but the sensation refused to meet her conscious.
That one word had done it, as it always did. The welcoming look turned sad and his hands dropped. With his hands, she knew the sky would dull and fall to crush the hope and lives of the Time Lords, because this was the day her life turned dark, the moment she would give up on happy endings.
This was the moment that the Doctor was leaving her once more.
~~.~~
Mage blinked her eyes open, scowling at the damp feeling on her cheeks. It had been a month since she had accepted Amy's case, a month since the nightmares had returned.
An animalistic growl escaped her lips as she noticed her surroundings. It would not be the first or last time that she would wake up in her study with a makeshift bed of pillows and the old wooden office chair, but that did not stop her from despising the aches that it brought to her back and limbs. Time has to catch up with us all one day though.
What seemed to dampen her mood only further was the picture staring at her from the pages of an old blue diary. The face was different than the man she remembered but one look into those green eyes told her everything. Not only was he her Doctor-her very alive Doctor- he was, without a doubt, completely in love.
"Fool." Mage spat half-heartedly at the diary before closing it and tucking it safely into her satchel. It was time to leave the comfort of this home and get this meeting over wi- knock knock knock.
Mage's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Visitors were hardly brave enough to venture the long, swampy drive to her mansion, save the occasional "pop-in" from her obnoxious neighbors. She could not afford friends in this life: could not risk the heartbreak.
The door swung open before she reached it, but it was not the red-head that stood there. Her glowering stare faltered at the sight of a strange mahogany-haired woman with a illuminating and mischievous smile. "Can I...help you?" It took her a moment to remember her usual hissing tone. A moment too late.
"Yes, Mum." The girl chimed in like a child on Christmas morning. It was a wonder that she did not giggle along with it. Mage rolled her eyes and sighed. "My name is Clara, and I have heard that you are in need of an assistant?"
The Gallifreyan's interest was instantly gained but she masked it with the suddenly important task of retrieving her parasol. "Who told you this?"
"A man. A very odd man, indeed. I met him in the square." The girl explained this slowly as if it were something that had been on her mind a long while. A man. The Doctor. Mage gave an exasperated sigh. That fool knew of her case, knew that she was searching for him. And this woman, this child - Mage's expression softened- she was her ticket to finding him.
"Well, my dear... what are we waiting for, then?"
This chapter was much shorter than I intended, but I assure you that the rest of it will be longer.
Notes: Clara is, of course, Clara Oswin Oswald from the new season and this is merely one of her "lives". Also, the blue diary is River's Diary as well because I like the thought that she would have ended up with it after all the years of searching for him while telling herself that she wasn't.
The next chapter should include more characters from Doctor Who, but it is doubtful that the Doctor will be in it for quite a while but he will be indirectly interacting with the two ladies during their journey alone.
